Known aircraft side fairings are composed of a core material, in particular in the form of individual chambers which are arranged essentially in a plane and are enclosed between two cover layers, with an insulating layer facing the outside of the aircraft and a decorative layer facing the aircraft cabin. The core material in this case is composed of chambers, in particular of honeycomb hollow chamber structures of resin-impregnated nonmetallic material. In side fairings of this type, the cover layers are arranged above and below the honeycomb structure and are adhesively bonded thereto. The cover layers are composed of glass fibre fabric impregnated with synthetic resin. A core material of this type, which is closed on its upper and lower sides by cover layers, is used as a semi-finished product for interior panels in the construction of passenger aircraft. The construction described for an aircraft side fairing permits relatively lightweight components of high strength. A drawback is that, due to the arrangement of core material and air chambers between the two cover layers, a material-specific thermal conduction value is produced which has a thermal conductivity of approx. 0.06 W/mK in the case of customary side fairings.
The thermal insulating effect of side fairings of the type described is determined by the “heat transfer coefficient” which is calculated essentially from the quotient of thermal conductivity λ and the thickness of the component. Since the side fairings have relatively low thickness, components or side fairing components are generally produced with a low insulating effect, and so additional insulation has to be provided on the rear side or on the outwardly facing side of the side fairings. Therefore, in the case of known side fairings, a primary insulation and, in addition, a secondary insulation are provided in order to achieve the necessary surface temperatures which have a crucial effect on the thermal comfort of the passengers.
The installation of secondary insulation between the primary insulation and the core material means that a construction space is additionally required, thus reducing the space provided in the passenger cabin and increasing the weight of the aircraft. Additional weight at the same time means losses in the aircraft performance. In addition, the installation of additional insulation in the form of secondary insulation disadvantageously requires a separate manufacturing step during the production of a side wall panel.